Ventilators



" April 14, 1959 l. J. o'lHp-:A 2,881,690

' VENTILATORS Filed July s. 1956 s sheets-sheet 1 I zr 4Jl l Y f6 4'Illl 2/ f6 fg if* o /12 20, f6 y Ir Zi ff 15 5/* v :3,6

' HE A VENTILATORS I. J.O

April 14, 1959 5 sheets-sheet 2 Filed July Z), 1956 Aprill 14, 1959 l.J. oHEA 2,831,590.

VENTILATORS Filed July', 1956' v 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent OVENTILATORS Ignatius John OHea, Surbiton, England, assignor to ColtVentilation Limited, Surbiton, England, a British com- Dany ApplicationJuly 3, 1956, Serial No. 595,688

Claims priority, application Great Britain July 6, 1955 This inventionrelates to ventilators of the kind having controllable louvers designedto be moved from a closed position to one giving a substantiallyunobstructed ventilation when fully opened.

Hitherto with louver type ventilators it was dicult to obtain asatisfactory closure substantially wind proof, rain proof and/orreasonably light-tight if required.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improvedlouver-type ventilator which will overcome some or all of the abovediiculties.

In a ventilator according to the present invention each louver ishingedly mounted adjacent one longitudinal edge and is so shapedadjacent the other longitudinal edge that said second longitudinal edgeis adapted to engage partly around the projection formed by the hingedmounting of the next adjacent louver. Each louver may be so shaped ateach of its transverse edges that said transverse edges may engagepartly around a projection at the side of the mounting of each louverand may also overlap a part of the corresponding shaped portion of thetransverse edges of the next adjacent louver. Said louvers may bemounted in a box type mounting which may be provided with drainagemeans. Said louvers may be linked together by a movable control barconnected to each louver by suitable brackets.

Referring to the drawings filed herewith:

Fig. l is a perspective view of one form of ventilator made inaccordance with the present invention,

Fig. 2 is a section on the line II-II of Fig. 1,

Fig. 2a is a detail perspective View of a portion of a louver plateshowing its hinging and troughs,

Pig. 3 is a section on the line III-III ot Fig. 1 to an enlarged scale,

Fig. 4 is a section through the bellows and winding gear shown in Fig.3,

Fig. 5 is a detail View of the chain.

According to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings the ventilatorcomprises a box like frame 2 forming the throat of the ventilator, theframe 2 having a flat fascia frame 4 at the front or outside. Thelongitudinal sides 6 normal to the fascia frame 4 are provided withflanges 8 for the whole of their height, said flanges being at rightangles to the sides 6 and parallel to the fascia frame 4. Secured to orformed integral with these ilanges 8 are upstanding narrow ribs 10. Saidribs 10 in the form shown are formed of a single thickness of sheetmetal angle piece disposed with one flange at right angles to theflanges 8. The ribs 10 are bolted to the anges 8 of the frame by oneflange and the other upstanding anges are pierced by holes 12 atintervals along their length to receive and journal the hinge rods 14running across the frame 2. Ten louvers 16 are hingedly mounted on therods 14 inserted in the holes 12. Said louvers 16 are each formed from asingle rectangular sheet of metal and appropriately shaped so that itcan be formed by a pressing operation. The longitudinal edge of thelouver sheet adjacent which the hinge is to 2,881,690 Patented Apr. 14,1959 ICC be formed is folded to form a double thickness projection 18(see Figure 3) the corners of which are cut away for on each side of thelouver so that the projection 18 clears the anges 8 by about t/s inch oneach side. The longitudinal free edge of the double thickness projection18 is looped into a circular section dening beading 20 adapted toreceive the hinge rod 14. Beading 20 is approximately "Ms inch from thedouble edge of the projection 18 and runs parallel thereto. The otherlongitudinal edge of the louver is shaped to define an invertedsemi-circular trough or channel which faces in the opposite direction tothe beading 20. Each of the transverse edges of the louver is formedwith a slightly tapered trough 24 running from the hinge beading 20 tobeyond the other longitudinal edge of the trough 22. Troughs 24 face inthe same direction as the trough 22 and the larger ends of the taperedtrough are adjacent the trough 22. Where each tapered trough 24 meetsthe trough 22 a partly circular piece 26 is cut away to allow one troughto communicate with the other.

The louvers 16 are mounted on the hinge rods 14 in the narrow ribs 10with their hinged edges lowermost. A louver bracket 28 is rivetted orotherwise secured to each louver 16 near the trough 24. Each louverbracket 28 is provided with a hole at its free end adapted to receivethe rivets of a linking control bar 30 for loose connection with thelatter. Said control bar 30 is formed from a single sheet of metal bentto a narrow U and drilled through at spaced intervals to define holes31. The free ends of the brackets 28 are pivoted in the holes 31 in theU in such a way that the control bar 30 can be moved relative to thesaid brackets 28.

The transverse base wall 32 of the box like frame 2 is provided with anextension 34 perpendicular thereto which carries a square tubular shield36 bolted to it by a bracket 38. The upper end of the shield 36 isembraced by a bracket 40 bolted to the at fascia frame 4. The shield 36forms a cover for a chain hereinafter described. A worm screw 41 insidea casing 42 at the end of shield 36 is worked by a control knob 44 todrive the chain into the shield 36 when the knob is turned. The stilsection of the chain is protected by a bellow 46, and is secured to anend member 48 pivotally secured to the control bar 30 by the securingscrew 52. A two-armed spring 50 is mounted on the securing screw 52. Theends of spring 50 are turned over the end member 48 and the bar 30 sothat they always exert a downward pressure on the end member 48. Thetransverse base wall 32 also defines a trough 54 which may be providedwith a drain.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5 the chain is of the type in which thelinks 56 are provided with abutments 58 and with teeth 60 forming a rackon one side of the chain. Thus in one direction the chain can only beslightly arched to form a stii rod which can be used to transmit alongitudinal thrust, while in the other direction the chain can befreely exed. The rack formed by the teeth 60 on the one side is adaptedto co-operate with the worm screw 41 which thus forms a driving meansfor imparting a thrust to said chain. Since the two-armed spring 50 isalways urging the end member 48 downwardly the chain links 56 emergingfrom the casing 42 will always be arranged in a slightly arched mannerto form a stili rod.

The ventilator is adapted to be recessed into the wall of the buildingin which it is to be incorporated with the flat frame 4 flush with thesurface of the wall and with the hinges of the louvers lowermost. Whenthe louvers are open they are substantially horizontal and the chain isfully retracted into the shield 36. As the control knob is turned thechain feeds out into the bellows 46 and pushes the louvers down to theclosed position. In the closed position the troughs 22 and 24 on eachlouver engage partly around the hingng beads 20, the upstanding portions10 of the flanges 8 and the upper ends of the troughs y2.4 of theadjacent louvers immediately above them. In this way anyrain whichndsfits way into kthe hinges of the louvers whenthey are closed` will becarried across into the troughs l24 and will run downthem into the,trough 5 4 from which it willtdrain away through the drain which may beprovided. v v

When the louvers kare open they will give positive protection againstrain since the rain water will ordinarily run down the louvers andanyarried around the edge by capillary attraction will fall on to thenext louver or be carried along the edges of the troughs 22 into thetroughs 24.

Thus with a ventilator as described above it will be found that whenclosed the ventilator is substantially wind and rain proof and if madeof opaque material such as metal Will be.reasonablylight-tight.Furthermore the construction is such that when open the ventilator willprevent the'entr'y lof rain-unless accompanied by a high wind.

Having thus described the invention it should be apparentthat same ,issubject to modiications obvious to any one skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

A ventilator `comprising a frame and a plurality of louver plateshingedly mounted in said frame, each louver plate being in the form of arectangular-sheet, a trough extending the length of one longitudinaledge of each sheet and the opposite longitudinal edge terminating in afolded back portion the free end of which forms a bead, pairs of bearingmembers rnounted in each side of said frame, a hinge rod extendingthrough said bead and journalled adjacent its ends in said bearingmembers, the distance between the centersof adjacent bearings of eachpair of bearing members being equal to the distance between the centersof the hinge rod bead and the longitudinal trough on each 1ouver,\atransverse Itrough at cach transverse edge of said louver plate facing.in the same direction as said longitudinal trough and communicatingtherewith, said transverse troughs tapering towards the free edge of thelouver plate and extending therebeyond so that when saidlouver `platesare mounted in said frame with `the hinges lowermost and positioned toclose the ventilator the bead of each louver plate is received in thetrough of the next adjacent louver plate and the transverse troughsyoverlap lthe hinge rod bearing members onthe frame, the extensions ofthe transverse troughs of each louver plate overlapping the. ends of thetransverse troughs of the next adjacent louver plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS MaderFeb. 23,

